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Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters (born Bernadette Lazzara; February 28, 1948) is an American actress, singer and children's book author. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performing in solo concerts and recordings. She is one of the most critically acclaimed Broadwayperformers, having received nominations for seven Tony Awards, winning two (plus an honorary award), and nine Drama Desk Awards, winning three. Four of the Broadway cast albums on which she has starred have won Grammy Awards. Regarded by many as the foremost interpreter of the works of Stephen Sondheim,1 Peters is particularly noted for her roles on the Broadway stage, including in the musicals Mack and Mabel, Sunday in the Park with George, Song and Dance, Into the Woods, The Goodbye Girl, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy and Hello, Dolly!.2 Peters first performed on the stage as a child and then a teenage actress in the 1960s, and in film and television in the 1970s. She was praised for this early work and for appearances on The Muppet Show, The Carol Burnett Show and in other television work, and for her roles in films including Silent Movie, The Jerk, Pennies from Heaven ''and ''Annie. In the 1980s, she returned to the theatre, where she became one of the best-known Broadway stars over the next three decades. She also has recorded six solo albums and several singles, as well as many cast albums, and performs regularly in her own solo concert act. In the 2010s, Peters continues to act on stage, in films and television in such series as Smash and Mozart in the Jungle. She has been nominated for three Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards, winning once. History Early life Peters was born into a Sicilian American family in Ozone Park, Queens, New York, the youngest of three children.3 Her father, Peter Lazzara, drove a bread delivery truck,4 and her mother, Marguerite (née Maltese), started her in show business by putting her on the television show Juvenile Jury at the age of three and a half. Her siblings are casting director Donna DeSeta5 and Joseph Lazzara.4 She appeared on the television shows Name That Tune and several times on The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour at age five.6 In January 1958, at age nine, she obtained her Actors Equity Card in the name Bernadette Peters to avoid ethnic stereotyping, with the stage name taken from her father's first name.6 She made her professional stage debut the same month in This Is Goggle, a comedy directed by Otto Preminger that closed during out-of-town tryouts before reaching New York.7 She then appeared on NBC television as Anna Stieman in A Boy Called Ciske, a Kraft Mystery Theatre production, in May 1958, and in a vignette entitled "Miracle in the Orphanage", part of "The Christmas Tree", a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, in December 19588 At age 13, Peters appeared as one of the "Hollywood Blondes" and was an understudy for "Dainty June" in the second national tour of Gypsy.11 During this tour, Peters first met her long-time accompanist, conductor and arranger Marvin Laird, who was the assistant conductor for the tour. Laird recalled, "I heard her sing an odd phrase or two and thought, 'God that's a big voice out of that little girl,'"12 The next summer, she played Dainty June in summer stock, and in 1962 she recorded her first single. In 1964, she played Liesl in The Sound of Music and Jenny in Riverwind in summer stock at the Mt. Gretna Playhouse (Pennsylvania), and Riverwind again at the Bucks County Playhouse in 1966.131415 Upon graduation from high school, she started working steadily, appearing Off-Broadway in the musicals The Penny Friend (1966) and Curley McDimple (1967)10 and as a standby on Broadway in The Girl in the Freudian Slip (1967). She made her Broadway debut in Johnny No-Trump in 1967, and next appeared as George M. Cohan's sister Josie opposite Joel Grey in George M! (1968), winning the Theatre World Award.6 Peters' performance as "Ruby" in the 1968 Off-Broadway production of Dames at Sea, a parody of 1930s musicals, brought her critical acclaim and her first Drama Desk Award.10 She had appeared in an earlier 1966 version of Dames at Sea at the Off-Off-Broadway performance club Caffe Cino.161718 Peters had starring roles in her next Broadway vehicles—Gelsomina in La Strada (1969) and Hildy in On the Town (1971), for which she received her first Tony Award nomination. She played Mabel Normand in Mack and Mabel (1974), receiving another Tony nomination. Clive Barnes wrote: "With the splashy Mack & Mabel ... diminutive and contralto Bernadette Peters found herself as a major Broadway star."19 Although these had short runs, Peters was singled out for praise by the critics,6 and the Mack and Mabel cast album became popular among musical theatre fans.10 She moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s to concentrate on television and film work.2 Career Film appearances Peters has appeared in 33 feature films or television movies beginning in 1973, including Mel Brooks' 1976 film Silent Movie (for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award), the musical Annie (1982), Pink Cadillac (1989), in which she co-starred with Clint Eastwood, and Woody Allen's Alice (1990). Peters starred opposite Steve Martin in The Jerk (1979), in a role that he wrote for her, and again in Pennies From Heaven (1981), for which she won the Golden Globe Award as Best Motion Picture Actress in a Comedy or Musical.210 In Pennies from Heaven, she played Eileen Everson, a schoolteacher turned prostitute. Of her performance in Pennies From Heaven, John DiLeo wrote that she "is not only poignant as you'd expect but has a surprising inner strength."20 Pauline Kael wrote in The New Yorker: "Peters is mysteriously right in every nuance."21 Kael further noted that "The dance numbers are funny, amazing, and beautiful all at once; several of them are just about perfection."22 Peters appeared with three generations of the Kirk Douglas family in the 2003 film It Runs in the Family, in which she played the wife of Michael Douglas's character. In May 2006, she appeared in the movie Come le formiche (Wine and Kisses) with F. Murray Abraham, filmed in Italy, playing a rich American who becomes involved with an Italian family that owns a vineyard. The DVD was released in 2007 in Italy.23 She starred in a film titled Coming Up Roses, playing a former musical comedy actress with two daughters. The movie, directed by Lisa Albright,24 was released in 2012.25 Theatre roles, 1980s to present In 1982, Peters returned to the New York stage after an eight-year absence in one of her few non-musical stage appearances, the Off-Broadway Manhattan Theatre Club production of the comedy-drama Sally and Marsha, for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. She then returned to Broadway as Dot/Marie in the Stephen Sondheim–James Lapine musical Sunday in the Park with George in 1984, for which she received her third Tony Award nomination. The New York Times theatre critic Frank Rich called her performance "radiant".26 She recorded the role for PBS in 1986, winning a 1987 ACE Award.27 Her next role was Emma in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Song and Dance on Broadway in 1985, winning her first Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. Frank Rich wrote in an otherwise negative review of the show that Peters "has no peer in the musical theater right now."28 She then created the role of the Witch in Sondheim-Lapine's Into the Woods (1987). Peters is "considered by many to be the premier interpreter of Sondheim's work," according to writer Alex Witchel.1 Raymond Knapp wrote that Peters "achieved her definitive stardom" in Sunday in the Park With George and Into the Woods.29 Sondheim has said of Peters, "Like very few others, she sings and acts at the same time," he says. "Most performers act and then sing, act and then sing ... Bernadette is flawless as far as I'm concerned. I can't think of anything negative."30 Peters continued her association with Sondheim by appearing in a 1995 benefit concert of Anyone Can Whistle, playing the role of Fay Apple. Additionally, she appeared in several concerts featuring Sondheim's work, and performed for him at his 1993 Kennedy Center Honors ceremony.31 She next starred in the musical adaptation of Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl with music by Marvin Hamlisch (1993). Peters won her second Tony for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance as Annie Oakley in the 1999 Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun. Among many glowing notices, critic Lloyd Rose of the Washington Post commented: "Peters banishes all thoughts of Ethel Merman about two bars into her first number, 'Doin' What Comes Natur'lly.' Partly this is because Merman's Annie was a hearty, boisterous gal, while Peters plays an adorable, slightly goofy gamine. ... For anyone who cares about the American musical theater, the chance to see Peters in this role is reason enough to see the show."32 Playbill''went even further: "Arguably the most talented comedienne in the musical theatre today, Peters manages to extract a laugh from most every line she delivers."33 In 2003, Peters starred as Mama Rose in the Broadway revival of ''Gypsy, earning another Tony nomination. Ben Brantley in his New York Times review wrote, "Working against type and expectation under the direction of Sam Mendes, Ms. Peters has created the most complex and compelling portrait of her long career, and she has done this in ways that deviate radically from the Merman blueprint."34 In 2006, she participated in a reading of the Sondheim - Weidman musical Bounce.35 In 2007, Peters participated in a charity reading of the play Love Letters with John Dossett.36 Peters starred in the Broadway revival of Sondheim's A Little Night Music (2010), replacing Catherine Zeta-Jones in the role.3738 The New York Times''reviewer wrote of her performance, For theater lovers there can be no greater current pleasure than to witness Bernadette Peters perform the show's signature number, "Send In the Clowns," with an emotional transparency and musical delicacy that turns this celebrated song into an occasion of transporting artistry. I'm not sure I've ever experienced with such palpable force – or such prominent goose bumps – the sense of being present at an indelible moment in the history of musical theater.39 Peters' next stage appearance was in the role of Sally Durant Plummer in the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts production of the Sondheim–Goldman musical ''Follies in 2011.40One critic wrote: "Peters ... exquisitely captures the character's unfathomable sadness and longing. It's a star turn, for sure, but one that brings attention to itself because of its truthfulness. Not surprisingly, her rendition of 'Losing My Mind' is simply shattering."41 She reprised the role in the Broadway revival at the Marquis Theatre, later in 2011,42 and received a nomination for the Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Actress in a Musical.43 Peters starred in the Sondheim and Wynton Marsalis staged concert revue titled A Bed and a Chair: A New York Love Affair at New York City Center in 2013. This collaboration between Encores! and Jazz at Lincoln Center was directed by John Doyle, with jazzy arrangements of Sondheim's songs.44 Peters sang "Broadway Baby", "The Ladies Who Lunch",45 "Isn't He Something?",46 "I Remember" and "With So Little to Be Sure Of", among others.47 Jesse Green, in his review in New York Magazine's Vulture site, commented: "What a wrenching (and funny) actress Peters remains, not on top of her voice but through it."44 Brantley, in his New York Times review wrote: "As a singer and actress, she just can't help being ardent, full-throated and sincere. She also reminds us here of her considerable and original comic gifts."48 Peters returned to Broadway in the title role of the 2017 revival of Hello, Dolly! at the Shubert Theatre. Replacing Bette Midler, Peters began performances on January 20, 2018.49 Marilyn Stasio wrote in Variety: "This Dolly’s personal style is to twinkle and charm people into getting her way. (Her 'So Long, Dearie' is an irresistible gem.) She also has the acting chops to moisten eyeballs when she entreats her late husband to bless her renouncement of widowhood and rejoin the human race in 'Before the Parade Passes By.'"50 Theatre awards Peters has been nominated for the Tony Award seven times and won twice, plus an honorary award. She has also been nominated for the Drama Desk Award nine times and won three times, for Annie Get Your Gun, Song and Dance and Dames at Sea.5152 At the 66th Tony Awards in 2012, Peters was presented with the honorary Isabelle Stevenson Award for "making a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations, regardless of whether such organizations relate to the theatre", specifically for her work with Broadway Barks.53 In making the announcement for this award, the Tony official site noted "With a rich generosity of spirit, Bernadette Peters' devotion to charitable causes is perhaps only outweighed by her much fêted dedication to performing.... Peters' efforts are held in the highest regard on Broadway and beyond." BC/EFA's Tom Viola said, "Bernadette's boundless compassion and generosity represent the best in all of us."54 Television appearances Peters was nominated for Emmy Awards for her guest starring roles on The Muppet Show (1977) and Ally McBeal (2001).55 On The Muppet Show, Peters sang the song "Just One Person" to Robin the Frog.56 She was one of the Muppets' guests when they hosted The Tonight Show in 1979, again singing "Just One Person" to Robin, and she appeared in other episodes with the Muppets.5657 Peters was also nominated for a 2003 Daytime Emmy Award, Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special, for her work in the 2002 made-for-television movie Bobbie's Girl.58 She won the 1987 "CableACE Award" for her role as Dot in the television version of Sunday in the Park with George.59 She has appeared in many variety shows with stars such as Sonny and Cher and George Burns. She has both performed and presented on the Academy Awards broadcasts in 1976, 1981, 1983, 1987 and 1994. Peters has been a presenter at the annual Tony Awards ceremony and co-hosted the ceremony with Gregory Hines in June 2002.60 She also hosted Saturday Night Live in November 1981.6162 She made 11 guest appearances on The Carol Burnett Show63 as well as appearing with Burnett in the made-for-television version of Once Upon a Mattress and the 1982 film Annie. She also performed at the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony for Burnett in 2003.64 Peters appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson65 and on the day-time talk show Live with Regis and Kelly, both as a co-host and a guest.6667 Peters voiced Rita the stray cat in the "Rita and Runt" segments of the animated series Animaniacs in the 1990s. Peters, as Rita, sang both original songs written for the show and parodies of Broadway musical numbers.68 She appeared on Inside the Actor's Studio in November 2000, discussing her career and craft.69 Peters has co-starred in a number of television movies, including The Last Best Year (1990) with Mary Tyler Moore, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997) with Brandy (receiving a nomination for the "Golden Satellite Award" for her role), and Prince Charming (2003) with Martin Short. She co-starred in her own television series, All's Fair, with Richard Crenna in 1976–77. She played a young, liberal photographer, who becomes romantically involved with an older, conservative columnist. Although Peters was praised for her charismatic performance, the show ran for only one season.70 Peters was nominated for a Golden Globe award as Best TV Actress – Musical/Comedy.71 In March 2005, she made a pilot for an ABC situation comedy series titled Adopted, co-starring with Christine Baranski, but it was not picked up.72 Peters appeared in the Lifetime television movie Living Proof, which was first broadcast on October 18, 2008. She played the role of Barbara, an art teacher with breast cancer, who is initially reluctant to participate in the study for the cancer drug Herceptin. Andrew Gans of Playbill wrote, "Peters is able to choose from an expansive emotional palette to color the character, and her performance... is moving, humorous and ultimately spirit-raising".73 Peters' television work also includes guest appearances on several television series. She appeared as the sharp-tongued sister of Karen Walker (Megan Mullally) on the penultimate episode of the NBC series Will & Grace, "Whatever Happened to Baby Gin?" (May 2006); as a defense attorney on the NBC series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (November 2006); as a judge on the ABC series Boston Legal (May 2007); and as an accident victim in Grey's Anatomy (September 2008). Of her role in Grey's Anatomy, TV Guide wrote: "Peters is especially fine as she confronts a life spinning out of control. I'd make her an early contender for a guest-actor Emmy nomination."74 In January, February and May 2009, she appeared in the ABC series Ugly Betty in five episodes as Jodie Papadakis, a magazine mogul running the YETI (Young Editors Training Initiative) program that Betty and Marc are in.757677 Her appearance at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in June 2009 was filmed and broadcast in Australia later that month.7879 Peters first appeared in the NBC series Smash in the March 2012 episode "The Workshop", as Leigh Conroy, Ivy's mother, a retired Broadway star, who feels competitive because of her daughter's blossoming career. She visits the workshop and sings Everything's Coming Up Roses (from Gypsy) at the urging of the workshop cast.8081 She also appeared in the season 1 finale, "Bombshell" (May 2012), to celebrate Ivy's presumed role as Marilyn,82 in "The Parents" episode (April 2013),83 where, as Leigh, she sings an original Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman song, "Hang the Moon",84 and in the episodes "Opening Night" (April 2013)85 and "The Phenomenon" (May 2013).86 From 2014 to 2018, Peters played Gloria, the chairwoman of the orchestra board in Mozart in the Jungle, a web video series by Amazon Studios based on Blair Tindall's memoir of the same name.87 The show was picked up for a second and third season.8889 She was a guest star in the 2014 Bravo television series Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce, playing the mother of Janeane Garofalo's character in the episode "Rule #21: Leave Childishness to Children".90 Peters plays the recurring role of Lenore Rindell in a spinoff of the television series The Good Wife, titled The Good Fight, which airs on CBS and CBS All Access starting in February 2017. Lenore and her husband Henry are finance experts and scammers; they are the parents of a main character, Maia, a young lawyer.919293 Personal life Peters and Steve Martin began a romantic relationship in 1977 that lasted approximately four years.163164 By 1981, her popularity led to her appearing on the cover and in a spread in the December 1981 issue of Playboy Magazine, in which she posed in lingerie designed by Bob Mackie.165 Peters married investment adviser Michael Wittenberg on July 20, 1996, at the Millbrook, New York home of long-time friend Mary Tyler Moore. Wittenberg died at age 43 on September 26, 2005, in a helicopter crash in Montenegro while on a business trip.166167 Peters has a mixed-breed dog named Charlie.168 She has adopted all of her dogs from shelters.16933168 Roles 785689_1311778718847_full.jpg|Lily St. Regis in Annie static1.squarespace.png|Eleanor in Slaves of New York Filmography Film Television References * Bryer, Jackson R. and Richard Allan Davison. The Art Of The American Musical: Conversations with the Creators (2005), Rutgers University Press, ISBN 0-8135-3613-8 * Crespy, David Allison. Off-Off-Broadway Explosion (2003), Back Stage Books, ISBN 0-8230-8832-4 * Knapp, Raymond. The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity (2006), Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-12524-4